Unstable Protector
by Miss Magic 101
Summary: Lily Burnett is an extreme Diva, who is finding it hard to fit in and is in an abusive relationship. When a storyline throws her and Dean Ambrose together, he takes it upon himself to protect her. As the storyline blurs with real life events, what will happen and where will this leave them both?
1. The Incident

**Here's my new story! I've recently really fallen back in love with wrestling again, so I thought I would write a fanfiction for it. One of the most intriguing characters to me has always been Dean Ambrose or Jon Good, so I thought I'd see how I got on writing a story based on him**

**Enjoy :)**

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><p><strong>~ CHAPTER ONE ~<strong>

**THE INCIDENT**

Lily Burnett was still relatively new to the roster of World Wrestling Entertainment as she had only been promoted to the main roster about six months ago. Lily was still finding her feet in the Divas Division in terms of both wrestling and the politics which had always seemed to shroud the business she had loved since she was a child. Lily was a twenty eight year old woman from Birmingham in the United Kingdom; a city which while huge to her, as she had spent her childhood out in the countryside, was tiny in comparison to some of the cities she had encountered in the United States of America, meaning that Lily was frequently classified as a 'small-town girl.'

Lily was by no means the stereotypical WWE Diva; she was not stick thin and she did not plaster her face with make-up every single day while wearing skimpy little outfits which left nothing to the imagination. Instead Lily preferred to let her wrestling do the talking. She wrestled in her jeans and usually a form-fitting tank top, with her luxurious brown curls tied back in a simple ponytail and massive combat boots upon her feet. This was the way Lily had always wrestled, and while, when she had first started at the WWE, a few people had raised their eyebrows at her, they were now used to her unorthodox style in both clothing and wrestling. Lily liked to stand out from the crowd and be different and the crowds had always appreciated that as well; she was the top babyface Diva in the company and she was loving life at the moment.

Lily had grown up watching all the wrestling she could find; from WWE to ECW to all the independent promotions in England; she had attended a Wrestlemania event when she was young and watched Shawn Michaels steal the show, and she had also cheered on wrestlers in packed high school gyms, where you could find some of the most rabid wrestling fans. However, the wrestling company which had really grabbed Lily's attention and set her imagination alight was Extreme Championship Wrestling. Although it was no longer in business, this was the company Lily credited with getting her into wrestling; the pure creativity which some of the wrestlers like Raven and Tommy Dreamer used to tell a story and use weapons in a match was something Lily had always admired and something she desperately wished to do. At eighteen years old, Lily had defied her parents and moved away from her countryside home to pursue her dream of being a wrestler. She knew she was taking a huge risk; after all wrestling was very much a male-dominated sport; however, the training school she found had welcomed her with open arms, saying they were looking to train more women. They had also embraced her love of extreme wrestling and as well as teaching her brilliant technical skills, they had allowed her to use her imagination and live out her dreams of having some fantastic ladder matches, street fights and even barbed wire matches. The few years Lily had spent in the independent promotions, touring the United Kingdom, were years that she looked back on with fondness; they had shaped her as a wrestler and taught her everything she knew about the business.

Lily now found herself in the wrestling giant that was World Wrestling Entertainment and she was overjoyed; WWE had embraced her technical wrestling ability as well as her love of using weapons and willingness to withstand a lot of punishment, which was something they were not used to when it came to the Divas. Lily had been wrestling fellow British Diva, Paige in an intense feud, which many had called the most exciting Divas feud in years. It had everything from fantastic promos, to great technical wrestling matches, to extreme battles with weapons of every kind, and Lily was loving it. Lily had also found herself a boyfriend; fellow WWE Superstar Antonio Cesaro or Claudio Castagnoli as he was also known; although he preferred to be known as Cesaro, and they had been dating for a couple of months. Lily knew her relationship with Antonio Cesaro was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but she felt that she would never find anyone else, so was scared of admitting to him and herself that she was unhappy and ending it as she did not want to end up alone. Cesaro had a very nasty temper; his heel persona which he showed the fans was just an extension of his actual personality, and when he got angry, sometimes Lily got quite scared. Cesaro liked everything done his way, something which Lily had found out to her peril on many occasions, along with the fact that he was pretty liberal when it came to using his fists to get what he wanted. Antonio had hit Lily on a few occasions, always being clever enough to make sure the bruises didn't show, or that if they did he watched Lily apply make-up so his secret would not be revealed. Deep down Lily knew that she was not in a healthy relationship, and she knew Cesaro was cheating on her with another Diva, but she did not have the confidence to tell anyone what was happening to her, let alone the confidence to break off the relationship completely. Despite her outwardly confident appearance, Lily was actually very insecure; she had been bullied all her life, always told she was worthless, something she had never forgotten, which meant that whenever he did something terrible Cesaro could always talk her round to forgiving him, because Lily was scared to be alone at the end of it all.

Lily Burnett had a very busy night on Monday Night Raw that night; she was scheduled to wrestle Paige for her fellow British wrestler's Divas Championship in a Street Fight in what would be the culmination of their feud; a match which she already knew she would lose, due to the outcome being pre-determined. As well as that Lily would be accompanying her boyfriend Antonio Cesaro to the ring for his match against Dean Ambrose. Although this would be a normal wrestling match, it was still true that WWE had recently eased up on their policy when it came to extreme rules and the use of weapons, something with Lily loved as it gave her more freedom. Lily was scheduled to interfere in the match after Cesaro had won, but would not stop hitting Dean Ambrose; it would be the start of a new storyline for all of them. Lily was quite excited about the new storyline; WWE had been very keen to pair her with the Lunatic Fringe Dean Ambrose and bring back a more extreme style of wrestling with them both at the forefront, something which thrilled Lily to no end.

Lily was just finishing lacing up her black combat boots when Paige came up to her and sat down. Both women greeted each other with hugs; they had a bond which very few other people shared in the WWE; they were both British, so they got on very well and both understood the pain of missing home more than the other Superstars and Divas.

"Let's steal the show tonight," said Paige excitedly.

"You bet we will," said Lily grinning "see you out there."

In the next second Lily spotted her boyfriend, Cesaro, walking towards her. Although Lily was not too happy to see him, as she preferred to be alone just before her matches, she still plastered a smile on her face and got up to hug him. Cesaro hugged Lily back and kissed her gently.

"Good luck tonight," he said, a slightly threatening undertone in his voice as he gripped Lily's arm a little bit too tightly for her liking, leaving her sure it would bruise "you better win, you're becoming a bit of dead weight to be honest, I need you holding a championship so you look good for once."

With that Cesaro let Lily go and stalked over to one of the other Divas who was wearing nothing but underwear and began flirting with her mercilessly. Lily paled at his words; she was sure he had been told by Vince and Paul that she would be losing tonight, but apparently she was wrong and was dreading the consequences of her impending loss to Paige, as her boyfriend had always had difficulty accepting that she could not control the outcome of her matches. Brushing the thought to the back of her mind, as well as the visions of Cesaro and the Diva he was currently with, Lily shook her head slightly and walked to the technical area to wait for her cue; unaware that her whole conversation with Cesaro had been witnessed by one Dean Ambrose, who had been watching with interest and was now quite concerned.

Soon Lily was in wrestling mode and she was dancing down to the ring to Guns 'n' Roses classic 'Sweet Child O' Mine' as the fans cheered raucously, all wanting to slap her hand as she waltzed past them lost in the rock music that surrounded her. Lily posed for the crowd on the ropes as her music died down and then felt the familiar buzz of adrenaline as Justin Roberts announced that this was a Championship Match and introduced both Paige and Lily to the crowd who booed and cheered. Then the referee rang the bell and the match was underway.

The match started with the two Divas circling each other as the crowd began to get louder and louder, the tension building almost to breaking point as everyone wondered who was going to make the first move. Lily and Paige locked up in a test of strength with Paige overpowering Lily in the first instance taking her down to one knee. The crowd booed this move and began clapping and cheering, willing Lily back to her feet as she overturned the test of strength taking Paige down to one knee, which the crowd loved. Lily then kicked Paige in the midsection before grasping her head and bringing her down to the mat in a bulldog style manoeuver, which earned her a one-count pin attempt. Quick as a flash Paige reversed the pin attempt into a roll-up, but Lily was too quick and kicked out, before both Divas stood up to tumultuous cheers and rival chants for each Diva.

Following the match script Lily grabbed Paige's hand and before Paige could react, Lily hit her with a vicious clothesline, taking her down to the mat. Lily then climbed on top of Paige and began punching her, before dragging her by her hair to the side of the ring, just underneath the ropes. Feeding off the crowd's momentum and excitement Lily sprinted to the other side of the ring, bouncing off the ropes, sliding across the ring and hitting Paige with a vicious baseball slide, which sent her opponent crashing to the floor. Lily soon joined Paige on the floor, pulling her to her feet before ramming her back into the barricade, watching with satisfaction as Paige crumpled to the floor. Satisfied that Paige was sufficiently weakened, Lily walked back to the ring as the crowd began to shout for weapons, and reached under the ring apron, pulling out a kendo stick. Lily showed the weapon to the crowd who roared their approval, before she ran at Paige wielding the kendo stick, ready to attack. At the last second, Paige caught Lily in a drop toehold style manoeuvre, meaning that Lily tripped and her head crashed into the top of the barricade, busting her lip open and leaving her with a nasty bump on the head. The crowd booed Paige relentlessly as she jeered them, before lifting Lily up and dropping her onto the barricade on her midsection, winding her opponent in the process. Lily fell back to the floor struggling for breath, as she mentally assessed her physical condition, something she was very used to doing. Meanwhile Paige had grabbed the kendo stick and set about whacking Lily's back and midsection with it, using all the force she could muster, leaving vicious looking red welts over Lily's pale skin. As each hit came Lily took shallow breaths, which helped to ease the pain a little bit, as she started to inch her way towards the ring apron.

Soon, despite the relentless hits from Paige, Lily had made her way to the ring apron. She grasped the material and slid under there slightly, finding what she wanted; a steel chair. As quickly as she could, and despite the pain, Lily turned around so she was lying on her back and swung the chair, hitting Paige in the side with excruciating force, knocking her opponent to the ground and sending the crowd into a frenzy in the process. Lily hit Paige again using the chair, before she climbed to the top turnbuckle, diving out to the side, landing on top of Paige and the chair in a five-star frog splash. Despite the pain she was feeling, Lily forced herself to her feet and dragged Page back into the ring, before attempting to pin her, earning herself a two count. Lily then dragged Paige to her feet, noting that her opponent seemed quite groggy, as she set up for her finishing move; a modified reverse DDT which she called English Extremes. Just as Lily was getting ready to lift Paige above her head to hit her move, Paige elbowed her repeatedly, before escaping and springing off the ropes and hitting a deadly dropkick, knocking Lily to the floor for a two count. Leaving Lily prone on the floor, Paige exited the ring to retrieve a table and a couple of chairs, to which the audience cheered their approval. Paige set up the table in the ring and quickly speared Lily through it, leaving her crumpled in a corner with a stabbing pain in her back caused by hitting the turnbuckles. Playing to the crowd, Paige then pulled Lily to the ropes and wrapped her in the tarantula submission hold, using the ropes as leverage. After what felt like an eternity she broke the hold and rammed Lily's head into the metal turnbuckle, leaving Lily feeling like she was seeing stars. Soon, both Divas were on the top turnbuckle, battling it out with punches as their only weapons; Lily simply fighting to survive and Paige fighting to win. In a matter of seconds Paige had Lily on her shoulders, ready to hit a devastating move which would surely end the match, however, Lily wriggled in Paige's grasp, meaning that Paige had to let her go, so Lily slid back into the ring, hitting Paige with a power bomb onto one of the chairs which Paige herself had brought into the ring earlier in the match. Lily once again exited the ring and grabbed another kendo stick. Climbing back into the ring she hit Paige with it, before locking her opponent in her Crippler Crossface submission hold, holding the kendo stick against Paige's throat.

The crowd was in a frenzy, shouting for Paige to tap as she was in the middle of the ring and they knew she had nowhere to go. However, Paige would not give up that easily and began fighting Lily for the kendo stick, ultimately winning as Lily was focused on keeping her submission hold in place. After taking control of the kendo stick, this allowed Paige to use it to hit any part of Lily she could reach, meaning the submission hold was gradually broken. Paige hit Lily with a particularly nasty blow to the head, which brought tears to Lily's eyes and left her sure that she would have a lump there after her earlier bump as well. Now that Paige had control she was able to pull Lily to her feet and Irish Whip Lily into the corner, watching with great satisfaction as Lily fell to the ring mat in a sitting position. Paige then retrieved a dustbin from underneath the ring, placing it in front of Lily, before jumping across the ring and kicking the dustbin into Lily's face, leaving Lily with a bloody nose. Paige then attempted to pin Lily, resulting in a very close two count. Seemingly infuriated Paige mounted the top rope and jumped off, in hopes of performing a senton-type move on Lily, before Lily moved out of the way, grabbing a discarded chair as Paige fell to the floor and hitting her with it. Lily then grabbed Paige, dragging her to her feet and over to the top rope, where Lily sat, steading Paige, killing time while her opponent got her breath back. Once Paige was able to support herself by staggering, Lily stood on the top rope, before jumping off it and twisting her body, performing a massive hurricanrana on Paige. Landing quickly, Lily went for the pin, earning only a two count before Paige reversed the pin into a roll-up, which Lily kicked out of and then stacked Paige up into a schoolboy, earning another two count.

It was time to set up for the big finish of the match, so Paige and Lily brawled to the outside of the ring, both landing hard on the floor, Lily banging her head on the ring post as she fell. Paige kicked her harshly as she reached under the ring and found another table, which she set up in front of the crowd on the floor, as they roared their approval. After Paige had set up the table, Lily grabbed her ankle as planned, tripping Paige and giving Lily chance to get up and punch Paige a few more times before she set about her task for the final move; setting up a ladder in the ring. Keeping one eye on Paige, Lily pulled a ladder out from under the apron, and slid it into the ring, setting it up next to the ropes, facing the crowd. Then Lily slid out of the ring, pulling Paige up by her hair and hitting her head on the table for good measure, before they both wearily climbed to the side of the ring, balancing precariously on the outside of the ropes. Lily was first to make the move as she was very comfortable around ladders, and she climbed onto the top rope, before sitting on the rung of the ladder just above this. Paige was hot on her heels and soon they were level on the ladder, throwing punches and forearms at each other as the slowly ascended to the top of the ladder, with the crowd watching on, entranced. After a hard forearm hit to the head to Lily, Paige soon had the upper hand as Lily had to stagger down a rung or two to keep her balance. Paige, however, still had hold of Lily's hair and pulled her up again before manoeuvring Lily so that she was on her shoulders, ready for Paige to hit her finishing move, the Paige Turner. Lily was unable to fight Paige off and soon she felt Paige jump off as they both turned in the air. Lily braced herself for impact and it came like a bullet from a gun as she hit the table, pain rocketing through her, something which she was very used to. While she was still groggy Lily felt Paige, who looked equally beaten up, cover her and before she could even react, she heard the referee count to three and announce Paige as the winner. The crowd around them were booing Paige as they had wanted Lily to win, but they were also cheering because of quality of the match they had just seen, and Lily allowed herself a small smile because of this; cheers always made the pain worthwhile.

Paige exited the arena quickly, limping slightly but carrying her Divas Championship high in the air. Lily was suddenly surrounded by referees and medical personnel, all wanting to make sure she was all right, after all she had taken a very big bump at the end of the match, something which was unheard of for Divas. Lily's own determination got the better of her, and despite feeling slightly dizzy she sat up of her own accord assessing the pain which she was in and how much she was bleeding. Her split lip was still bleeding a bit and her nose was also bleeding, but other than that she miraculously had no more injuries which she felt needed immediate medical attention, as she was used to bumps on the head and an aching back. With that in mind Lily got to her feet slowly, stumbling slightly as she did so, meaning she had to grasp the ring for support. However, as they had done earlier, the cheers of the crowd willed her on, and soon Lily was walking, staggering up the ramp back to the technical area. Before Lily went through the curtains she waved once more to the crowd, who cheered yet again.

"Nice one Lily!" exclaimed Paige, who was sat with an ice pack on her shoulder "that last bump was insane!"

"Thanks Paige," said Lily grinning "it was truly amazing!"

With that praise ringing in her ears Lily slowly staggered towards her locker room, the pain of the last bump she had taken finally hitting her. People all around her were congratulating her on the match that she and Paige had just had and were saying that she was revolutionising the Divas division, but Lily let it all wash over her, smiling occasionally at people but not really having the strength to say anything in response. All of a sudden Lily felt herself bump into another person; she turned to apologise for not concentrating on where she was going when she found the figure of Dean Ambrose towering over her. She was only five foot five so at six foot four Dean Ambrose really did tower over Lily with his well-built figure only adding to his slightly menacing persona.

"Oh sorry," said Lily quietly "wasn't concentrating on where I was going."

"No worries," said Dean Ambrose in his deep, gravelly voice "I watched your match by the way; Lily isn't it?"

"Yeah," said Lily, smiling slightly, she had never spoken to Dean Ambrose before, he had a bit of a reputation amongst the Divas as someone who was not very approachable, so she had always kept her distance.

"Fantastic match," said Dean Ambrose, smiling down at Lily "nice to see someone else appreciate the more extreme side of wrestling as much as I do."

"Yeah I love it!" said Lily, her smile lighting up her face "grew up watching ECW. So thanks anyway, Dean Ambrose isn't it? Or Jon Good, which do you prefer? I know some wrestlers like to be known by their stage names and some don't."

"Either is good," said Jonathan or Jon Good, also known as Dean Ambrose, watching the Diva in front of him with great curiosity "Dean Ambrose is just an extension of the darker side of my personality anyway."

"So you really are the Unstable Lunatic Fringe then?" asked Lily.

"Only when I have to be," said Jon, a sense of great mystery in his voice "usually when someone I care about needs protecting."

Lily smiled warmly at Jon (she had decided she preferred to call him Jon outside of the ring already), he certainly intrigued her and she was definitely looking forward to working with him. Without warning, all of a sudden Lily was overcome by a wave of dizziness and nausea, resulting in her stumbling backwards slightly. Jon reached out towards the unsteady Diva in front of him and grasped her shoulders in a firm, but still strangely gentle grip until she regained her balance.

"You all right Lily?" he asked, genuine concern in his deep, suddenly soft voice.

"Yeah I'm fine, just a bit tired after the match," said Lily in a shaky voice, knowing she was lying as she stumbled yet again.

"Whoa!" said Jon in an alarmed voice "hang on a second, you're clearly not. Sit down; let me make sure you're all right."

"No, no don't," said Lily, panicking all of a sudden at what Cesaro would say as he always hated her being around other men "I'm fine honestly."

"Sit down," said Jon in such a firm and authoritative voice that Lily knew there was no room for argument, so she sat down on a box which usually stored equipment while Jon went to grab a first aid kit.

Jon was back next to Lily in a flash; he never really spoke to any of the Divas, which probably explained the fact most of them thought he was a bit scary, but something about the woman in front of him intrigued him and he felt he should get to know her better considering they would be working together for the foreseeable future after tonight.

"Look at me," Jon commanded "I need to check your eyes, you could have concussion, some of those bumps were insane."

"I've been through worse," said Lily chuckling as her bright blue eyes met Jon's brown ones "so have you Jon, or should I say Moxley? CZW ring any bells?"

"Ah so you've been stalking me?" asked Jon, tipping Lily an enormous wink as he smirked "can't say I blame you."

"Don't flatter yourself," said Lily, smacking him lightly on the arm as Jon's face appeared to take on an expression of mock offense "I've watched a lot of your matches in my free time since I found out about the storyline we have together; thought it might be a good idea to get to know who I was working with."

"I must admit I've watched a lot of your matches too," said Jon honestly "you're one extreme girl, some of your matches are insane, I think we could have a lot of fun. Shame there's no barbed wire allowed though, eh?"

"I'm definitely someone that can match up to the Lunatic Fringe, don't forget that," said Lily confidently "and yeah, I miss those barbed wire matches, we should try and bring them back."

"Definitely," said Jon, grinning "your eyes are a bit glazed over, I think you should go and see the doctor; get some ice on that bump on your head as well, I need you at your best tonight."

"I will," said Lily gratefully "thanks Jon, I didn't mean to have you give me a medical examination."

"No problem," said Jon "when you live on the edge, as we do, you get to learn a bit about first aid."

Lily nodded and soon she and Jon were deep in conversation about all the different matches they had been in. Jon told her about his most extreme matches in CZW and Lily told him about the time she had been involved in an inferno match, resulting in her getting some nasty burns. Both were so immersed in the conversation that they did not notice Cesaro walking up to them, looking incredibly menacing and angry. When Cesaro got to Jon and Lily he grabbed Lily's arm with such force that it made her cry out in pain involuntarily as she was pulled violently to her feet; something which made Jon very angry and set his senses on high alert.

"Why didn't you come and find me after your match?" raged Cesaro, beginning to pull Lily after him, as Lily shot an apologetic look at Jon.

"I'm sorry Cesaro, I needed to sit down, I felt a bit dizzy," said Lily, her voice suddenly becoming incredibly small.

"Not acceptable!" sneered Cesaro "and what are _you _doing here, Ambrose?"

"We were just talking," snarled Jon, standing beside Lily protectively "preparing for later on. Take your hands off her, she can walk by herself, you're hurting her."

"Are you going to make me?" asked Cesaro, smirking.

"If I have to," replied Jon in a threatening manner, taking a step forward and removing Cesaro's hand from Lily's arm, horrified when he saw red marks when Cesaro's fingers had been.

"Come on Lily, let's go," said Cesaro, stalking off, leaving Lily rooted to the spot, glancing with wide eyes between Jon and Cesaro, wondering if someone had discovered her secret.

"See you later Jon," said Lily in a small voice.

"Bye Lily," said Jon, who swore he saw fear in Lily's eyes as she began to follow her boyfriend "look after yourself."

Jon watched until Lily and Cesaro had turned the corner before allowing his worry to overtake him. Jon had seen marks like the ones on Lily's arm before on other women and he had seen glimpses of fear in women's eyes as men dragged them away as well, because Jon had grown up trying to protect his mother from her abusive husband and his father. This meant that Jon knew what to look out for, and he had strong suspicions that Cesaro had a short temper and was not averse to using his hands to make sure Lily did exactly what he wanted. The thought of Cesaro hitting Lily was one which filled Jon with anger; he always wanted to protect women who he thought were in danger and Lily was no exception, meaning that Jon vowed that if he was right about her relationship with Cesaro, he would protect her in any way he could.

Meanwhile back in Cesaro's locker room, Lily stood against the wall, cowering slightly as her boyfriend shouted at her for losing the match against Paige, something which she had repeatedly told him in the past, was beyond her control.

"Why did you lose?" shouted Cesaro, coming very close to Lily and putting his hands either side of her on the wall so she couldn't escape.

"You know the outcome of matches is pre-determined, it was out of my hands!" cried Lily; she was usually quite strong when it came to her emotions, but something about Cesaro had always reduced her to tears.

"Well you should have defied them!" raged Cesaro.

"And lose my job?" asked Lily "I could never do that, wrestling is my life."

"Well you're no use to me without a Championship!" spat Cesaro "but then you always were a worthless waste of space."

Before Lily could react, Cesaro had drawn his arm back and slapped her square in the face, knocking her off balance and bringing her to her knees with the force of the blow. Lily's eyes immediately filled with tears; something which she hated as she did not like to cry at all, but she seemed unable to help it at the moment.

"Get up, you piece of garbage!" sneered Cesaro nastily "I have a match to get ready for."

Sometime later that night, after applying ice to her bumps and bruises and wiping the dried blood off her face, Lily found herself in the technical area waiting for the match between Jon and Cesaro. Lily was stood with Cesaro who had a vice-like grip on her hand when Jon walked up to them both stretching his muscular arms as he did so.

"You ready?" Jon asked them both.

"Looking forward to it," was Lily's slightly timid reply, although it still made Jon smile.

"You're not going to know what hit you Ambrose," said Cesaro menacingly as his music hit and the crowd booed.

"See you out there Lil, darlin'," said Jon, completely ignoring Cesaro and winking at Lily as she turned around and flashed him her brightest smile.

Once Cesaro and Lily had made their entrance Jon made his as Dean Ambrose and the crowd went wild as they saw one of their heroes who had battled so hard against Seth Rollins and the Authority. The crowd was on fire as the match started and throughout it as well. It was only a normal wrestling match but the crowd brought into every move and both men worked very hard hitting every move they could think of, until Cesaro got the upper hand and hit his Neutralizer finishing move, earning the win. Lily watched on with interest, knowing as the bell rung and Cesaro exited the ring, grabbing a steel chair that it would soon be her time to intervene. Lily watched on as Cesaro hit Jon with the steel chair multiple times until Jon was not moving, as had been planned in the script. Cesaro then placed the chair underneath Jon's head ready to hit the Kerb Stomp just as Lily entered the ring, putting herself between the two men and speaking into the microphone.

"Cesaro stop it, he's had enough!" she shouted, as Jon began to stir, slowly sitting up, looking confused as had been planned "you're not supposed to kill him for goodness sake!"

"Get out of the way Lily!" yelled Cesaro "he deserves what he is going to get!"

"No!" shouted Lily "I can't let you hurt him anymore, it's not fair, you're not an animal!"

"Lily, if you don't step out of my way now I may have to do something I regret," said Cesaro in a dangerous and threatening voice.

"Leave her alone Cesaro," said Jon, who sounded very out of breath as he caught a microphone one of the ring crew threw to him and stood up beside Lily.

"Why are you getting involved anyway?" Cesaro spat at Lily "it's none of your business!"

"I can't stand by and watch you beat someone senseless!" exclaimed Lily, hurt by the venom in Cesaro's voice.

"Well I don't need you anyway," spat Cesaro "you're a useless manager and a terrible Diva!"

"Clearly you've been watching different matches to the ones I have then," said Jon, earning a huge roar of approval from the crowd "she's just as unstable as I am, just as crazy."

"Time to choose Lily," said Cesaro in a threatening voice "me or him?"

Lily looked between Jon and Cesaro, quite aware that this had become very personal after the little incident earlier on in the evening between the three of them. She looked into Cesaro's face and saw genuine anger and disgust beyond what he was acting out for the crowd, and at the same time she saw genuine worry in Jon's eyes, much like she had done earlier on. Lily listened to the crowd chant for her to choose Dean Ambrose and she made the decision which would define her career.

"I'm sorry Cesaro," she said, not looking him in the eye "I can't be with someone who doesn't know when to stop hurting someone; Ambrose might be the Lunatic Fringe but he knows a match ends when the bell rings and you don't attack a defenceless opponent."

At this point Cesaro was supposed to shrug his shoulders and walk out of the ring, ending the segment; however he decided to take matters into his own hands as he pulled his hand back and punched Lily directly in the eye. It all happened so fast that Lily did not know how to react; meanwhile Jon was seething with anger at the knowledge Cesaro had strayed from the script and even worse put his hands on Lily, confirming Jon's suspicions. Springing into action, Jon caught Lily as she began to lose her balance, his heart breaking as he saw tears running down her face.

"I've got you, you're all right," he whispered so only she could hear as he set her on her feet "hold it together for a bit longer, we're nearly there."

Lily surreptitiously nodded at Jon as he turned to Cesaro, furious at his opponent's actions. Jon snatched his discarded microphone from the ring mat, his face red with anger as he shook with rage and a desperate desire to make sure Lily was never hurt again. Jon decided in that moment, as the boos from the crowd rained down, all directed at Cesaro; that if Cesaro was going to deflect from the script then so was he.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he roared, his true anger pouring out "what makes you think it's OK to lay your hands on a woman? What makes you think it's all right to hit a woman? Your problem is with me, not her!"

"She needed to be taught who the boss was," sneered Cesaro, as he tried to move towards Lily, who instantly moved closer to Jon.

"Don't you come anywhere near her!" yelled Jon "I swear if you even _look _at her in the wrong way, much less _touch_ her again, I will break you in half, piece by piece, and that is not a threat, that is a promise! She's under my protection now."

The crowd screamed their approval at Jon's words as Cesaro backed down, walking back up the ramp towards the backstage area. Once he was sure Cesaro had left, Jon turned towards Lily, who looked so vulnerable at that moment that Jon's features instantly softened as he walked towards her trembling figure.

"You're all right," he whispered again, laying a hand on her shoulder "I meant what I said, he won't touch you again."

This earned a weak smile from Lily, something which made Jon smile in turn as he helped her out of the ring and they walked up the ramp together to raucous cheers. As soon as they were backstage Jon glanced as Lily's eye, wincing as he noticed it was already swelling up.

"You're going to have a right shiner there," he said, grimacing "but you should be all right."

"Thanks Jon," said Lily, tears in her normally strong voice "for everything."

"I meant what I said you know," said Jon quietly "if he touches you again I will break him."

"It's all right," said Lily, her eyes telling Jon she was lying "I think he just got too lost in the promo, he didn't mean it."

"Lil, darlin'," said Jon, exasperated "we both know that's not true, he has a temper on him and I don't want to think of you at his mercy when he's angry."

Lily was just about to reply to Jon; tell him everything, all her secrets, when Cesaro came up to them, grasping her hand in the same vice-like grip as he had done before, which set Jon's teeth on edge, as he looked on furious.

"What was that out there?" said Jon angrily "that wasn't part of the script! What makes you think you can hit women?"

"Just got a bit lost in the story," sneered Cesaro, who shot Jon a malicious grin "come along Lily."

Before either Lily or Jon could say anything else to each other Cesaro dragged Lily away, leaving Jon standing in the technical area, worry engulfing his mind. Jon watched as Lily was pulled around the corner by Cesaro, worried for her safety, but heartened when she managed to turn around and wave at him, a gesture which he returned until she was out of sight. As thoughts and worry entered his mind once again, Jon sat down and began to take of the tape around his hands as he vowed, once again that he would find out if he was right about Lily and Cesaro's relationship, and that if he was, he would protect Lily in any way he could, just to make sure that the Diva who intrigued him was safe.

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><p><strong>So what did you think? It's been a while since I wrote a wrestling story so thought I would give it a go.<strong>

**I'll update soon :) so see you then. Thanks for reading :)**


	2. Midnight Talks

**So here's the next chapter of my Dean AmbrosexOC story, hope you all enjoyed the first chapter because I'm enjoying writing this.**

**Enjoy.**

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><p><strong>~ CHAPTER TWO ~<strong>

**MIDNIGHT TALKS**

That night both Jon and Lily lay awake in their respective hotel rooms, both mulling over the evening's events, wondering what the other was thinking. Lily had been unable to sleep at all; she had gone to bed early and now, as the clock read quarter past midnight, her frustrations once again got the better of her, for what felt like the millionth night in a row. Cesaro had been incredibly angry when they had got back to the hotel that evening and he had hit Lily again, in one of the worst beatings she had ever had to endure. This meant that as well as the bruises Lily now had from her match with Paige, she also had horrific bruises on her stomach, and a bruise developing on her cheek, coupled with the black eye she had received from Cesaro in the ring.

Lily began to cry silently at the thought of what Cesaro had done to her and also due to the fact that everyone else backstage apart from Jon, seemed to have brought Cesaro's lies and story about him simply getting lost in the moment and forgetting who he was hitting. Lily knew this was her own fault, as she hadn't contradicted Cesaro's story, but she was so scared of his reaction if she did, that she felt it was better to say nothing and put up with occasional black eye and mysterious bruise.

Lily had not seen Jon since she was dragged away from him by Cesaro and she hoped, as she lay in her bed, clutching her teddy bear; her only source of comfort and security, that she had not scared him away. Lily needed a friend in WWE desperately, she was very lonely with only Cesaro as company, which was only made worse by the fact he hit her and left her on many occasions to flirt with every other Diva in the company, all of whom flaunted that fact in Lily's face. Lily had always got on with men better than women; she was a tomboy and always had been, but still she had found it difficult to settle into life in WWE, and except for Paige and Cesaro she didn't really talk to anyone else. Lily continued to cry silently as she resigned herself to the fact she had probably scared Jon off; the only person to ever show any concern for her and she thought she had made him not want to talk to her again.

Little did Lily know, Jon was lying in his own bed, wide awake and worrying, unable to sleep because he was playing the events of that evening over in his head yet again. Jon never usually worried about anything; that was just the kind of person he was, however, the events which had unfolded in front of him, involving Lily had been of great concern to him as he had seen and experienced domestic violence before and would not wish it on anyone. Jon did not believe Cesaro's excuse for hitting Lily for a second, because in his mind there was never any excuse to hit a woman, no matter what the circumstances.

Jon had watched Lily backstage after the segment; she must have known that he had guessed what was happening to her, and if he wasn't mistaken, Jon was sure he saw fear in her eyes as Cesaro dragged her away. Something else which Jon was also sure of was that Lily was on the verge of telling him everything when Cesaro had interrupted them, which clearly indicated to Jon that she wanted and needed help. Jon also watched, as Lily was dragged away, the mask go back up on Lily's face; that smile masking everything so no one asked any questions, but Jon could see through it and he knew just how scared Lily must be, and was at that particular time.

Lily intrigued Jon in the same way that Jon intrigued Lily and they had both vastly enjoyed their conversation earlier that night about the first few years of their respective careers. They were also both looking forward to working with each other, but Jon did not like the idea of Lily still having to work with Cesaro given the personal nature of their relationship and Jon's own suspicions about it as well. As Jon lay in his bed thinking about the storyline that would play out for the foreseeable future, he simply hoped that Paul and Vince would give him as much creative freedom as possible in the ring and on the microphone, so that he could really let Cesaro know exactly what he thought of him. However, all Jon knew at the moment though, as the darkness filled his hotel room was that he needed to talk to Lily, needed to know that she was all right. With that in mind, Jon made an instant, very spontaneous decision that he would go and see Lily right now, not caring what the time was. Feeling better having made that decision, Jon climbed out of bed and threw on some tracksuit bottoms, a vest top and his hooded jacket before exiting his room and making his way down to the reception desk, which he knew was open twenty four hours a day.

"Do you know what room Lily Burnett is in?" Jon asked the tired looking receptionist as he came to a stop in front of her desk.

"I'm sorry, you are?" said the receptionist, sneering slightly "we don't give that information out to just anyone."

"I'm a bit concerned about her," said Jon, opting for a partially honest approach "she was in a bit of a bad way earlier, just wanted to make sure she's all right; we work together you see, plus I am a guest at the hotel, you've just watched me come down the stairs."

"I shouldn't really be giving you this," said the receptionist, sighing "but you seem genuine; she's in room 213."

"Thank you," said Jon, deciding to go to the twenty four hour café to see if they had any hot chocolate, given that earlier that evening Lily had admitted to him it was her favourite drink especially after she had wrestled a match.

Five minutes later, with two hot chocolates in his hands, Jon was ascending the stairs towards the second floor lost in his thoughts. He wondered how he would approach the issue of Cesaro with Lily without offending her, but he knew that someone did need to address it and that would be him, even if Lily did not like it. After a short while, Jon found himself standing outside Lily's room, and after taking a deep breath he knocked as loudly as he dared, once again trying to convince himself that he was doing the right thing.

Jon was strangely relieved when he heard movement coming from inside Lily's room, so he waited patiently, and sure enough a couple of minutes later, Lily opened the door to her room, shielding her eyes against the sudden bright lights of the corridor, as she looked at Jon, a confused expression on her face.

"Jon?" she asked quizzically.

"Yeah," said Jon in a quiet, but firm voice "we need to talk."

Without waiting for an answer, Jon stepped forward into Lily's room, meaning that she had to step back quickly to avoid being knocked over. As Jon appeared to make himself at home by sitting on her bed and turning on a lamp, while looking, with an amused expression at her teddy bear, Lily once again looked on confused.

"I brought hot chocolate," said Jon simply.

"Just give me a second then," said Lily, slightly nervously, even though she had been half expecting a visit from the Lunatic Fringe that evening anyway, given what he had witnessed earlier.

Lily shrugged on her dressing gown while keeping half an eye on Jon, not sure how she should react to him being in her room, but at the same time feeling oddly safe in his presence. Lily also found that all the emotions she had kept bottled up were pushing to the surface, and she felt that she would be unable to keep them under control for much longer, especially now she was in the same room as someone who knew what Cesaro did to her, even though she hadn't actually admitted it to him. Jon meanwhile skilfully averted his eyes as Lily put her dressing gown on over her nightclothes as he had only just realised just how revealing they were, and did not need the distraction of those kind of feelings at the moment.

Soon Lily joined Jon on her bed and he handed her one of the cups of hot chocolate. They both sat in silence for a short time after this drinking their respective drinks, lost in their own thoughts; thinking of the best way to progress with this conversation, which they both ultimately knew would change their lives forever.

"Thank you for the hot chocolate," said Lily, giving Jon a small smile "it's my favourite."

"Yeah I remember you mentioning it earlier," said Jon, glancing at Lily, who suddenly looked quite vulnerable "thought I'd bring some."

"So you said we needed to talk?" said Lily, trying to pretend she didn't know what Jon meant "about what?"

"Don't do this Lily," said Jon, sighing deeply "we both know what we need to talk about; let me spell it out for you though. The fact that your boyfriend terrifies you, the fact that when he grabbed you earlier you looked like you were about to cry, the fact that he hit you in the middle of the ring and is trying to pass it off as an accident, oh and while we're at it the fact that you have a new bruise on your cheek which I would bet my last dollar is because of him; so talk to me Lily."

"It's nothing Jon," said Lily, although she refused to meet his eyes "the bruises are from my match earlier."

"That's rubbish," said Jon, fighting to keep his voice calm "and we're just going to gloss over the fact that he thumped you in the middle of the ring for everyone to see, are we?"

"He got caught in the moment," said Lily, although her voice was trembling and tears were threatening to fall down her cheeks "it happens to us all."

"No Lily," said Jon persistently "getting caught in the moment is accidentally swearing or going into the crowd, it's not hitting your girlfriend in the face so hard that she ends up with a black eye."

"Honestly Jon," said Lily, her voice practically a whisper now "everything is fine, Cesaro isn't what you think he is."

"Lily listen to me," said Jon in a soft voice filled with concern as he put his hand under Lily's chin, guiding her head up so she was looking at him; not at all surprised when she flinched "you might have everyone else fooled into thinking that what happened out there was all part of a storyline, but I was there, I saw that look of genuine fear cross your face; he's hurt you before hasn't he?"

"N-No," stammered Lily, although she could feel her façade slipping under Jon's piercing gaze.

"You're not telling me the truth, I know you're not," said Jon, whose voice had so much certainty to it that Lily found it hard to not admit everything right there "I'm going to tell you something no one else knows and hopefully you'll trust me enough to tell me the truth then. I know injuries like these. I grew up in a broken home trying to protect my Mum from my waste of space of a father; so if you think you are going to pull the wool over my eyes with this you are very much mistaken. I know there is something bigger going on here and when you're ready to open up I will listen to you and protect you in any way I can."

Without another word Jon got up from his position sitting on Lily's bed; realising that there was not a lot he could do until she admitted to him there was problem with her relationship and with Cesaro's anger. As Jon looked back at Lily he noticed she looked incredibly vulnerable and if he was honest it pained him to leave her when he knew she was in danger, but he knew she had to be the one to make the first move.

"Here's my number," said Jon, quickly grasping Lily's phone off her bedside table and keying his number into the machine, before calling his own number off Lily's phone and saving her number "call me if you need anything, any time of day I will protect you."

Jon then walked slowly towards the door, having to stop himself from turning around and taking Lily somewhere safe away from all the people that had hurt her in her past and Cesaro. The only thing that meant Jon was able to walk away was the fact that he knew he would be able to beat Cesaro up in the ring very soon, and no one could do anything to stop him from inflicting as much pain as possible on the man who had hurt Lily.

"Jon," Lily found herself saying in a small voice, just as Jon's hand rested on the door hand "wait."

Jon felt his whole body relax instantly as Lily spoke. At this moment in time those were the two best words she could have said to him as it gave him a reason to stay with her, as well as a reason to protect her. After sighing deeply with relief Jon turned around, observing one of the most heart breaking scenes he believed he would ever see. Lily was not crying, but her eyes were shining with so many tears that Jon could see their misty nature, even from the other side of the room.

"Please," said Lily, hearing the pleading nature of her voice "please don't leave."

"I'll ask you again then," said Jon, in a voice which he hoped would give Lily enough reason to trust him "he's hurt you before hasn't he?"

Under Jon's intense stare, Lily did not have to say a word for him to know that this was the truth. In fact, Lily found herself unable to verbalise anything at the moment, so she simply lowered her head so she was looking at her trembling hands, praying that Jon wouldn't leave, as a sob wracked her body, the first of what she was sure would be many. Jon meanwhile had crossed the room in a few strides and now found himself sat next to Lily, holding his arms open for her as she willingly fell into, what Jon was sure was the first protective embrace she had ever encountered. Holding someone in this way was something that Jon was not used to, but seeing how vulnerable Lily had looked as the sob had engulfed her, made his protective instinct come to the forefront as he wanted to hide Lily away from everything that had ever or would ever hurt her.

"I'm going to kill him," said Jon, anger reverberating in his deep voice "in every single one of our matches."

"He can't know that I told you!" said Lily, her voice suddenly full of panic.

"But you didn't tell me did you?" said Jon "I guessed, plus he whacked you in the middle of the ring."

"He's still going to kill me," whispered Lily sadly.

"He'll have to go through me first," said Jon, his voice showing his hatred for Cesaro.

"No Jon, I don't want you to get dragged into this," said Lily desperately "please don't, you don't know what he's like."

"I have to protect you," said Jon firmly "I can't ignore this."

"I'm asking you to," said Lily, almost in tears now "please? I can deal with this."

"If you think, for even a second, that I am going to let this go," said Jon assertively "then you underestimate both my desire and ability to protect you from him."

Up to this point, Lily had held her emotions together pretty well, apart from the first sob which had escaped earlier. However, at Jon's heartfelt last sentence, Lily felt safer than she had done in months, and this was enough to allow her to break the stranglehold she had had on her emotions since she had started working for the WWE. Before either Lily or Jon knew what was happening, Lily began to cry like she never had before; heart breaking sobs wracked her body as tears poured down her cheeks onto her dressing gown; her strong nature had finally been broken.

"Lil," said Jon gently, taking her in his arms once again "come on, darlin', it's going to be all right."

Lily continued to cry for what felt like an eternity; she seemed almost inconsolable to Jon, who simply held her as each sob tore through her, in his strong, safe arms, never intending to let her get hurt again. Jon had a strong suspicion that Lily would never have told him about what Cesaro was doing to her if the events of that evening had not occurred; but at that moment in time Jon could not imagine being anywhere else, he knew he was where he was meant to be as he sat on Lily's bed, with her sobbing in his arms.

"I'm s-sorry Jon," whispered Lily, her voice trembling with sobs.

"No need to be sorry," said Jon, holding Lily tight against him "you've been strong for so long, take this time to break down, take this time to let all those emotions out, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."

"You promise?" asked Lily, her vulnerability shining through.

"I promise," said Jon truthfully "I've got you."

"But why?" asked Lily, who was still trembling slightly but seemed to be over the worst of her tears for now "we've never talked before today, you could get to know me and then you could hate me; most other people have never really valued me."

"Well that's their loss," said Jon sighing deeply "I can say with absolute certainty that I will not hate you; I've got to know you today and we have so much in common. I think we've never talked before because our paths have simply never crossed; but we're working together now for the foreseeable future, I have to protect you Lil, please don't shut me out, I can't let this go on and not do anything about it."

"You're the first person apart from him to notice me," said Lily, who seemed to be talking more to herself than Jon.

"Let me correct you on that," said Jon "he might have been the first person to notice you, but I'll be the first one to treat you with the respect you deserve."

"I'm just so unhappy Jon," said Lily miserably, finally admitting what she had been feeling over the past few months "in my relationship with him, in everything. He swept me off my feet at first, but he has a horrible temper, but I'm so scared of being alone that I can't bring myself to leave him. I love working here I really do, but it frustrates me that half the Divas can't wrestle and I feel like no one in the locker room appreciates the fact I'm different. Sure people congratulate me on my matches but I see them talking about me behind my back, I've worked so hard to be different and I love the extreme side of wrestling, I just wish other people appreciated it. I just wish I was a little bit more confident in myself so I could tell those people to get lost and so I could kick Cesaro into touch as well. I hate that I'm so weak and that I've allowed myself to get into this situation."

"Listen to me," said Jon firmly, putting his arm around Lily and locking his eyes with hers "Cesaro is scum who doesn't deserve you and is going to get everything he deserves in every match he has against me; if you think I'll be pulling punches with him, you're wrong, and don't try and convince me to do otherwise. As for kicking him into touch, you are strong, you are beautiful and independent, you will do fine on your own, you have nothing to be scared of and if Cesaro comes after you again he'll have me to deal with. The locker room here is a strange place, one minute they're congratulating you and the next they're sabotaging you, it's all politics, just try and ignore it and carry on doing what you're doing. You are worth every one of those token girls in there, you have more talent than half of the men on the roster, and that's why they talk about you behind your back, because they're jealous. I'm used to people talking about me too, it's because we're different and people always fear what's different, but the crowds love us and I for one know I'm never going to change my style just because someone backstage doesn't like me. I know it can sometimes feel like everyone is against you because we seem like the only two people who aren't afraid of weapons and blood, but like I keep saying, we're working together now, we don't need them."

"I wish I had your confidence so I didn't have to care what other people thought of me," said Lily, managing a small smile finally, something which Jon returned without hesitation as he watched the Diva beside him relax into the person he had met earlier that evening.

"You do," said Jon "or you wouldn't keep getting up and putting on a show every night."

"Thank you," said Lily in a small voice "for everything, thank you for losing sleep to talk to me, you told me some things I needed to hear."

"I couldn't sleep anyway, I just needed to make sure you were all right," said Jon, biting his lip as he felt uncharacteristically nervous at that admission.

"He hit me again when we got back here," said Lily after a short pause, nervously watching Jon to see what his reaction would be.

"I knew it," growled Jon, his eyes blazing with anger "I knew he would, I tried to follow you, but they grabbed me for some photos so I couldn't; he will pay."

"I don't even know what I did," said Lily, tears in her eyes again "it was him that deviated from the storyline, I think he's angry about the storyline in general; he keeps saying it's my fault even though I tell him I have no control over it."

"What did he do to you?" asked Jon, who was having to ball his hands into fists to control his anger at Cesaro.

"This," said Lily, pointing to the bruise on her cheek "and this."

Lily took a deep breath, noting that Jon was watching her without blinking, rage deep in his eyes, masked by concern for her first and foremost. Slowly Lily took off her dressing gown, revealing finger marks on her arms from where Cesaro had squeezed her arms, something Jon had noticed earlier in the night, but now seemed more pronounced. Then Lily slowly lifted up the very bottom of her pyjama top, revealing her midriff, stained black and blue by bruises, which to Jon looked as though they had taken the shape of a boot print.

"I am going to kill him," snarled Jon under his breath "I hope they put us in a weapons match, then I can finally injure him and make him suffer and much as he has made you suffer."

"They don't hurt so much now," said Lily sadly "the swelling on my face has gone down and cleverly, Cesaro kicked me in the midriff because I can say those are bruises from my match with Paige and no one will question it."

"This is so wrong Lily!" raged Jon "you shouldn't have to put up with this! No woman should have to put up with this! How has no one noticed what he's been doing to you before now?"

"They just don't care enough to look I guess," said Lily.

"Well that is all going to change," said Jon simply "I'm going to make sure everyone knows exactly what Cesaro is and what he does to women, and then I'm going to make him pay for it."

"It means so much more than you'll ever know that you've even noticed," said Lily honestly as Jon looked at her with a shocked expression on his face.

"How could I not notice?" said Jon "I knew before he whacked you in the ring though."

"I thought you were suspicious," said Lily "the way you spoke to him after he pulled me away while we were talking told me all I needed to know. I hope you understand why I didn't tell you."

"I do," said Jon "at that point you hardly knew me, you were hardly going to divulge your deepest secret."

"I'm not happy with him," said Lily, admitting her negative feelings towards her boyfriend for the second time "at all."

"You need to break up with him then," said Jon "no sense staying in a relationship where you're not happy."

"I'm scared he'll just hurt me if I try though," said Lily nervously "see I told you I was weak."

"You're not weak," said Jon kindly "you've just been through a tough time and don't know how to get out of the situation you're in."

"I need to get out of it though," said Lily, finally admitting the truth to herself, something which made Jon's heart swell with pride.

"You need to try and find the courage to break up with him then, I know it's hard though and I'm not going to pressure you to do it until you feel totally ready," said Jon gently "I'll protect you whatever happens."

"I need to do it sooner rather than later before he can talk me round into not doing it," said Lily, in a remarkably strong voice "and also before this surge of courage disappears."

"Good," said Jon smiling.

"I'll do it tomorrow," said Lily firmly.

"Want me to be there or somewhere nearby when you do, just in case he takes it badly?" asked Jon, who couldn't hide his concern.

"No," said Lily decisively "this is something I have to do alone, for me. Thanks though Jon."

"No problem," said Jon, admiring Lily's courage "please call me though if anything does happen, I'll drop whatever I'm doing to get to you as quickly as I can."

"I promise," said Lily, making Jon breathe a sigh of relief.

There was then a short silence between Jon and Lily; both knowing that their lives would never be the same after the events today had brought them together, but both looking forward to working together in the future.

"I suppose I should leave you to get some sleep," said Jon regretfully after a while "thanks for saying something so I didn't have to walk away."

"Thank you for noticing," said Lily simply "and for talking to me tonight."

"No problem," said Jon "just remember, you are not alone in this anymore, if he gives you _any _trouble tomorrow, call me, I plan to make him regret everything he's ever done to you, I can start that a bit earlier than planned if I need to."

"I'll call you if I need to," said Lily smiling "I'll come and find you after it's done anyway, which room are you in?"

"263," said Jon "so just down the corridor from here."

"Good, I'll remember that," said Lily "like I said, I'll come and find you after."

"Make sure you do," said Jon "anyway, must go, need my beauty sleep."

"Well I wasn't going to say anything, but now you mention it, yeah you do," said Lily, grinning cheekily.

"Hey!" said Jon, laughing "what's that supposed to mean?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" said Lily, giggling.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Jon, sighing in mock annoyance as he got up from Lily's bed.

"See you tomorrow," confirmed Lily "I'll call you if I need you, or when it's done, whichever comes first."

Jon nodded and then did something that shocked both him and Lily in its suddenness; he swept Lily into his arms in a huge hug. In her shock Lily grabbed Jon for support and hugged him back, revelling in the feeling of safety she got whenever she was with Jon, knowing that this would continue during all the time she worked with him.

"You'll be all right," said Jon, who seemed to be reassuring both Lily and himself "stay strong all right?"

"I will," said Lily "thank you for everything, including the hot chocolate."

Jon smiled warmly as he began walking to the door, knowing that if he didn't leave now, he never would. As he walked to the door Jon became increasingly worried about leaving Lily alone with Cesaro again, but Lily had assured him she would be all right, and he knew this was something she needed to do herself, however, Jon still did not intend on straying very far tomorrow, in case anything did go wrong.

"Night Lil," said Jon as he walked out of the door.

"Night Jon," said Lily, smiling at him , watching as he closed the door behind him.

As soon as they were alone both Jon and Lily felt the loneliness that their separation brought them, which was something that was quite foreign to them both as they were used to be alone, and often preferred it to the company of other people. Once Jon had left, Lily climbed back into her bed and found herself unable to sleep again; she was lost in thoughts of what would happen tomorrow and also thoughts of the man who had just left her. Lily did not understand how Jon had noticed what Cesaro was doing to her, nor did she understand why he wanted to protect her, but she knew he was right, her relationship with Cesaro was not healthy and she intended to get out of it as soon as possible.

Jon meanwhile had made his way back to his room, having to fight his instinct to go back to Lily and hold her in his arms, protecting her from anything that would hurt her. As Jon climbed back into bed he contemplated his thoughts about Lily as it was rare anyone ever had this effect on him. Jon was a loner of sorts; he preferred his own company to the company of others, but something about Lily made him want to get to know her, want to spend time with her and want to protect her, which was something he intended to do the next day if he needed to.

"You're stronger than you know, Lil, don't ever forget that," said Jon, to no one in particular, as he keyed those very words into his phone before sending them to Lily, who smiled in her half-conscious state before falling back to sleep; the first peaceful sleep she had had in a long while.

With thoughts of Lily racing through his mind and as he played through every possible scenario of tomorrow's events in his head, Jon allowed his mind to switch off, despite worrying about Lily being alone with Cesaro, and soon he was fast asleep, hoping, as Lily was, that tomorrow would go as planned and soon Lily would be free.

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><p><strong>So what did you think? Let me know, I really appreciate reading feedback. Now time to get started on chapter 3, see you in a few days! :) Thanks for reading<strong>


	3. The Break Up

**So this is the next chapter of my newest story. This one is a bit more angsty but I hope the chapter is all right. I don't own anything to do with WWE.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

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><p><strong>~ CHAPTER THREE ~<strong>

**THE BREAK UP**

The next morning came far too quickly for Lily, who was woken up from her deep sleep, the best night's sleep she had had in months, by her phone buzzing angrily from her bedside table. Groaning with the effort of waking up Lily picked it up, noticing it was a text from Cesaro demanding that she go and see Paul and Stephanie right away and say that she wasn't comfortable working with Jon. Lily sighed, frustrated as she tapped the keys on her phone, replying to Cesaro, telling him she wasn't going to do that because she couldn't or she would lose her job. Not wanting to wait for a reply from her boyfriend, Lily busied herself getting out of bed before jumping in the shower and getting dressed in her jeans and a black blouse with red detail on it. Lily then quickly dried her hair, deciding to leave it down today; she loved wearing her hair down when she wasn't wrestling, it was one of the reasons she had kept it so long over the years.

Half an hour later Lily was ready to face the day and was not surprised when she saw her phone had a missed call from Cesaro on it and a text message telling her what a waste of space she was and that the WWE would be better off without her. Lily was almost positive Cesaro was now off flirting with one of the other Divas, and although she was annoyed by his text, which fuelled her resolve to break up with him; Lily could not deny that his cruel words had hurt her. Despite the sadness she was feeling, Lily took a deep breath and looked at herself one more time in the mirror before exiting her room, unsure where she was going to go.

Lily allowed herself to get lost in her own little world as she wondered in no particular direction whatsoever, not sure where she was going to end up, just knowing that she needed some time to think before she broke up with Cesaro. Soon, after walking for a little while, Lily felt herself stop almost subconsciously. Wondering why this had happened, Lily glanced around her, seeing that she was in the middle of a corridor in the hotel, with nothing but rooms on both sides of her. Just as Lily was about to walk away, one particular room number caught her eye; number 263, which she knew from last night, to be Jon's room. Lily didn't know why she had walked here without thinking, but all she knew now was that she wanted to see Jon, to talk to him before she went to see Cesaro. With that in mind, Lily walked up to the door labelled '263' and knocked softly, relieved when she heard movement coming from inside and especially when Jon opened the door, smiling when he saw who it was.

"Hey!" he greeted Lily, stepping back so she could enter his room "are you all right?"

"Hi," said Lily, slightly shyly, for she had only just noticed Jon's hair was wet and was dripping onto his black t-shirt, making it stick to his toned torso "just wanted to come and thank you again for last night."

"No problem," said Jon, grabbing a towel and drying his hair quickly, not bothering to brush it, just letting it fall naturally into his eyes "nice boots by the way."

"Thanks," chuckled Lily, looking down at her black combat boots with red laces "just wanted to come and see you before I go and see Cesaro."

"Ah, have you had a bit of a crisis of confidence?" asked Jon kindly.

"I guess that's what you could call it," said Lily nervously "he sent me some nasty messages this morning, telling me to go and tell them I didn't want the storyline, then when I said no, he sent one back saying I was worthless and that everyone would be better off without me."

"You don't need to listen to him," said Jon, sitting down next to Lily and pulling some shoes on "you know that."

"I know," said Lily "and it annoyed me more than anything, but it still hurts; if he thinks I'm worthless then what does everyone else think?"

"You don't need to listen to what they think," said Jon simply "remember what I told you last night, the crowds love you and you're amazing, strong and independent; that's all you need in this world."

"Thank you," said Lily softly "I'm just sorry I don't see myself like you do yet."

"You will soon," said Jon smiling "now come on, how about we go and get breakfast?"

"What if we see Cesaro?" asked Lily, slightly nervously "he hates you, he'll hate me being around you."

"We'll say we were talking about the storyline," said Jon smoothly "come on Lil; let me treat you to breakfast."

"All right then," said Lily smiling, relenting at last.

Jon grinned hugely as he shrugged on his hooded top with an anarchy symbol on the back before he and Lily walked out of his room and down to the cafeteria. Despite Lily's protests, Jon insisted on paying for the breakfast and insisted that Lily have whatever she wanted, so she opted for some pancakes with maple syrup on and also a hot chocolate, while Jon ordered the full breakfast of sausage, egg, bacon, beans and hash browns. After assurances from the waitress at the till that she would bring the orders over, Jon and Lily found a table in the corner of the cafeteria and began to resume their conversation from the previous day before Cesaro had dragged Lily away.

Soon the waitress brought them their food and Lily and Jon continued to talk while eating, about anything and everything; from Lily's life in England to Jon's early career in CZW. Finally however, they rested on the topic of the storyline they would be involved in with WWE for the near future.

"I hope I get as much freedom as possible," said Jon "that way I can make him pay for what he's done to you; plus I'm not used to having to follow all these scripts all the time; bit of a rebel, you know?"

"I know what you mean," said Lily honestly "it's taken me ages to get used to the fact everything is so planned out here; I'm used to just being given an opponent, given the finish and told to wrestle to that, or being given a topic and being told to talk about it."

"Tell me about it," said Jon, glad someone else understood what he meant "it can be frustrating sometimes that's for sure, I like having freedom, I think it makes everything more realistic; maybe we should go and see Paul and Stephanie and broach this with them, see what they think about everything not being so scripted, I mean we are used to non-scripted environments."

"I think that's a brilliant idea," said Lily enthusiastically "particularly with the promos; I mean you're so at home on the microphone you don't need any guidance; you ooze charisma."

"That's not something I've been told before," chuckled Jon.

"Well it's true," said Lily smiling "you probably don't notice because you get caught in the moment, but you get some of the loudest cheers on the roster and when you speak you have everyone's attention, even if they don't want to give it to you."

"High praise indeed," said Jon modestly "I just hope I live up to it."

"I just hope I can keep up with you," said Lily.

"You won't have a problem with that," said Jon smiling "from what I've seen you know exactly what you're doing inside a ring and on a microphone, we'll get along just fine, trust me."

"I always wanted to bring a little more extreme wrestling to WWE," said Lily, smiling fondly at her memories "I just hope they let us do that, I don't want to do it half-heartedly, if we do it I want to go at it full throttle and bring the essence of ECW back."

"Definitely," said Jon, grinning as plans formulated in his head "bring back the fear to Hell in a Cell matches, bring back Inferno matches, bring back the adrenaline of when the crowd sees a weapon, bring back the inventiveness of Tables, Ladders and Chairs matches, and just bring back the fun."

"Competing in a Hell in a Cell match would be so amazing," said Lily excitedly "don't know if I'll ever get the chance though."

"We could suggest the first mixed tag team Hell in a Cell match to Paul and Stephanie," suggested Jon, seeing Lily's eagerness.

"Really?" asked Lily, her whole face brightening with a smile "you would like to wrestle in a Hell in a Cell match with me?"

"Course," said Jon "I think we'd have a blast, I just fear for our opponents really, we're both a bit crazy."

"All the best people are," said Lily grinning "that's what my Granddad always told me; he was the only one who believed in me when I said I wanted to be a wrestler, hopefully we can make him proud; wherever he is I'm sure he's watching over me."

"We'll make him proud," confirmed Jon, absolute certainty in his voice.

"Thank you," said Lily softly all of a sudden "for everything; for last night and for this morning."

"Don't have to thank me," said Jon simply.

For a short while longer, Jon and Lily continued their conversation, both lost in the moment as their now empty plates lay forgotten beside them. Lily and Jon were so immersed in their conversation that, as was the case last night, neither of them noticed Cesaro coming up behind Lily until Lily winced in pain as he gripped her shoulders.

"Lily, what are you doing here with him?" asked Cesaro in a deathly calm voice.

"We were discussing the new storyline," replied Jon, answering for Lily, who he noticed had fallen silent.

"You should have come and found me Lily," said Cesaro, his voice staying at the same tone as before "you know I like to see you."

"You're right, I'm sorry Cesaro," said Lily, her voice barely more than a whisper "I'll see you soon Jon, I should go with Cesaro."

"We're going to see Paul and Stephanie," sneered Cesaro, pulling Lily to her feet "we're going to put a stop to this stupid storyline."

"You can't do that," said Jon, his anger flaring momentarily "this could be a big break for all of us."

"I'm not putting up with it," said Cesaro threateningly "and neither is Lily, are you Lily?

"Well actually, I think we should carry on with it," said Lily in a small voice, something which make Jon smile "I think this could be really successful Cesaro, it could be my chance to show everyone what I can do."

"You're opinion doesn't matter anyway," said Cesaro spitefully.

"I'm not going to stop this storyline," said Lily, in an annoyed voice, as Jon watched on, proud of Lily for standing up for herself.

"You'll do what I tell you to do," growled Cesaro dangerously, taking Lily's wrist in his hand and beginning to drag her away from Jon, who felt his own anger flare up.

"Hey, leave her alone!" he said loudly, following in the direction that Lily was being dragged by her boyfriend.

"Jon it's all right," said Lily, although her eyes said different "I'm fine, I'll see you later."

Despite the look of fear in her eyes, Lily managed to look at Jon in such a way that he knew she was going to break up with Cesaro very soon, so she did not need him to follow her, despite knowing that he wanted to. Jon nodded quickly, letting Lily know he had got the message she was trying to send to him, as he slowed down and stopped following the retreating couple, despite his worries and reservations about leaving Lily alone with her soon to be ex-boyfriend.

Jon sighed deeply; worry the only emotion present in his mind at that moment in time as he wondered where to go. He didn't want to go out anywhere in case Lily was put in danger and he needed to rush back to her, but at the same time he needed something to distract him from the impending dread in his mind. Making an instant decision, Jon found himself walking back to his room and before he knew it, he had grabbed his gym stuff and found himself in the hotel gym lifting weights; exercise always provided him with a good distraction from emotions, although he still made sure he had his phone next to him, which he checked at increasingly regular intervals.

Meanwhile, a couple of floors up from the gym, Cesaro and Lily were just entering Lily's hotel room and Cesaro's temper had not dissipated at all, meanwhile Lily's resolve to break up with him had only hardened, even though she could not deny she was nervous about doing it. Cesaro paced the room breathing heavily, something which Lily knew was a dangerous sign, so she simply stood quietly, waiting for the predictable explosion of fury directed at her and her alone. Soon as Lily predicted, Cesaro advanced on her and struck her across the face with a vicious slap, which made Lily stagger slightly, although she didn't fall to her knees, she was used to being slapped.

"You need to learn to do what you are told!" yelled Cesaro angrily "we are going to end this storyline!"

"I'll lose my job!" said Lily, who had her hand over her flaming red cheek as she pleaded with her boyfriend "what will I do then?"

"Why do I care about that?" sneered Cesaro "you should go and ask your new friend Ambrose, you're a bit too over-friendly with him for my liking."

"His name is Jon," said Lily, the bitterness evident in her voice "we're part of a storyline together, that's it."

"Which is why we should end this storyline," said Cesaro through gritted teeth as Lily watched his fists clench "to get rid of him."

"That's not fair!" argued Lily "he hasn't done anything wrong, he could lose his job as well if you do this."

"You think I care about that?" laughed Cesaro cruelly.

"You may not, but I do," said Lily quietly "I'm not horrible enough to end someone's career all because you don't like a storyline."

"Well tough luck, because we're going to Paul and Stephanie right now!" said Cesaro, a threatening undertone to his voice as he reached out to grab Lily, who darted out of his way quickly.

"No!" said Lily, in a remarkably strong voice.

"Excuse me?" said Cesaro, in a deathly calm, dangerous voice.

"I said no!" said Lily angrily "I'm not going to let you do this!"

"You'll do what I tell you to do," said Cesaro, advancing on Lily "you're my girlfriend."

"Not anymore," said Lily, summing up all her courage "I'm breaking up with you. I can't be with someone who tries to ruin my career and who hits me; the way you've treated me has never been right, I'm just sorry it took me so long to notice."

The silence that followed Lily's words was so tense and full of emotion that Lily began to feel quite worried and scared for her safety, even more so when Cesaro continued his advance on her, until she was backed against a wall with nowhere to go.

"Take that back," spat Cesaro, pausing after every word, clearly controlling his temper "and I may not have to hurt you."

"No," said Lily, taking a deep breath and summoning her bravery again "I'm not going to be with you anymore Cesaro. I'm breaking up with you."

The second the last words had left Lily's mouth was the same second the never-ending pain started, as Cesaro slapped her again, so hard that he split her lip open and her head was smashed backwards into the wall, leaving her seeing stars slightly, and also with tears in her eyes.

"Let me go!" shouted Lily as Cesaro grabbed her by the arms with extreme force and threw her to the floor.

"You want to break up with me?" raged Cesaro, kicking Lily in her stomach so she was winded "I'm going to make sure no man ever wants you again!"

Despite Lily's best attempts to fight Cesaro off, he was much stronger than her, and as he kicked her in the ribs again, she began to find it difficult to breathe as well as see through the tears in her eyes. Before Lily could register what was happening, Cesaro had picked her up and practically thrown her onto the bed, with such force that Lily smacked her head on the headboard and was sure she felt the bed break as well. Lily glanced over at Cesaro after she had cried out in pain, noticing that strangely, he had his back turned to her. Seeing this as her chance to call someone for help, Lily quickly grabbed her phone and called the first person who came into her head; Jon, hoping against hope he would answer and realise she was in danger, despite the fact she wouldn't be able to talk to him.

Lily pressed the 'call' button on her phone just as Cesaro turned back to her, not noticing what she had done. He climbed onto the bed, pinning her down as he punched her in the face; hard. Lily cried out in pain just as the called connected and she heard Jon's voice.

"Lily?" Jon asked concern in his voice "are you all right?"

"You called him?" growled Cesaro, fire in his eyes "well at least he's here to hear what I'm going to do to you, no one will ever want you after this."

"Lily?" asked Jon, in a panicked voice as he was hurriedly changing out of his gym kit with one hand "what's going on? Talk to me."

"You're mine and only mine Lily," said Cesaro in a dangerous voice that made Lily shiver, as he started to play with the buttons on her blouse.

"No, no please, not that!" screamed Lily, who was beginning to cry "anything but that!"

"You're mine!" growled Cesaro seductively as he tore Lily's blouse and she screamed out in fear.

"Jon!" wailed Lily in a screeching voice, mixed with huge sobs.

"Lily!" shouted Jon "I'm on my way!"

Lily continued to try and fight Cesaro off as his hands scratched her body, but he was too strong and too quick for her; he had her hands pinned down and her legs under his weight in a second as he reached his ultimate goal; Lily sobbing all the time as she continued to try and fight him off in the only way she knew how. Before Lily knew what was happening, it was all over and Cesaro climbed off her bruised and broken body, just as she registered the banging on the locked door and Jon's voice shouting her name.

"Jon!" she yelled, with every ounce of strength she had left.

Within a second Jon had kicked the door in, busting the lock in the process, rage present in every part of his body. As he entered Lily's room Jon took in the full horror of the scene before him. He saw Lily lying sobbing on the bed, her clothes either torn or missing and Cesaro smirking in the corner, just doing his jeans up. Jon gasped in both shock and rage as he removed his hooded top and threw it to Lily, who looked at him through blackened, broken, tear-filled eyes. Jon then turned to Cesaro who was trying to sidle out of the room quietly before Jon could get to him.

"You are not going anywhere!" said Jon in a menacing voice as he advanced on Cesaro "not until you've paid for what you've done to her."

"At least now she knows how worthless she is," said Cesaro in a cocky voice "I made sure no one will ever want her."

Before Cesaro could even react Jon had grasped the collar of his t-shirt, lifted him up and slammed him back into the wall before landing a mean right hand directly on Cesaro's jaw, watching with great satisfaction as the man Jon despised fell to the floor. Jon kicked him the ribs for good measure before he leaned down so he was towering over Cesaro.

"You are disgusting," said Jon through gritted teeth "you deserve so much more punishment than what I'm going to give you. I'd kill you if I had the chance because of what you've done to her, but Lily is my main concern, not you. I can promise you this though, I said it in the ring last night, I will break you apart piece by piece, very gradually, you think I'm insane when I portray the Lunatic Fringe? That's going to be nothing compared to what you have to put up with from now on."

Jon then stood up and kicked Cesaro right where it hurt; hard, for good measure. Jon smirked as Cesaro groaned in pain and crumpled further to the floor; this was the least he deserved for what he had done to Lily. Jon then picked Cesaro up and literally threw him out of the room, closing the door behind him, taking a deep breath and feeling his anger disappear, replaced only by concern for the girl he knew had suffered so much.

"Lil, darlin'?" questioned Jon in a soft voice, walking slowly and slightly cautiously over to where Lily was now sat, being careful not to startle her.

Jon's heart cracked when he looked at Lily; he had never seen anybody look so broken as she looked as that moment in time. Both of Lily's eyes were blackened, her cheeks were bruised and her lip was bleeding. As well as the visible injuries Jon was sure there were bruises he could not see and that was before he even began to try and comprehend what Cesaro had done to Lily just before Jon had kicked the door to the room in. As Jon looked at Lily, he was overcome by a sense of guilt as he wished he had fought harder to be there with Lily when she broke up with Cesaro, which would have stopped this from happening. However, Jon knew at the same time that Lily would never had accepted him being there with her, she had said it was something she needed to do alone; however it still did not stop Jon feeling incredibly guilty about the state the woman in front of him was in.

Jon sat down on Lily's bed, watching as she flinched slightly at his presence; he knew she was terrified and in shock about what had happened to her so he kept a reasonable distance between the two of them until she was ready to let him comfort her. Jon took in Lily's appearance and couldn't help the ghost of a smile that crept onto his lips when he saw her wearing his jacket; it was far too big for her but there was something about the image of Lily wearing his jacket that made Jon smile.

"Lil," said Jon in a hushed, gentle voice "I'm so sorry, I know that doesn't help at all, I'm not going to pressure you to talk, just know I'm here."

Lily brought her blue eyes up to look in Jon's brown eyes and Jon was not surprised when he saw genuine fear in them; terror so extreme he knew it would take a substantial amount of time for Lily to be all right again. Lily's eyes were full of tears as well and some had leaked out onto her cheeks, creating a heart breaking sight which Jon would never forget. Acting on an impulse, Jon reached his hand out slowly to try and take Lily's hand in a sign of strength to show he was not going to leave her. However, Lily flinched quickly away from Jon and burst into small sobs which rocked her entire body as she began to tremble from both fear and an overload of emotions.

"Lil, it's me," said Jon gently "I'm not going to hurt you I promise."

Despite Jon's honest and kind words, Lily continued to cry and tremble, seemingly lost in fear, terror and uncertainty as Jon was forced to watch on, powerless to help Lily recover from her terrible ordeal. This continued for about fifteen minutes and all the while Jon was wracking his brain, desperately trying to find the right thing to say or do that would allow Lily to trust him again and open up to him. Jon knew it was crucial for Lily's recovery that she knew she could trust him, and also that she felt she could open up to him very soon, otherwise she might never be able to talk about it. As Jon decided roughly what he needed to say he got up and walked to the side of the bed where Lily was sitting and crouched down so he was at her level, watching as she followed him with her eyes, watching him, hurt evident in everything she did.

"Come on Lil," said Jon softly, gaining Lily's fearful attention again and not taking his eyes off her "I know you're terrified and I know you've been hurt in the worst way possible but please don't shut me out, I want to help you, I won't hurt you. At least let me check those cuts over. If you don't want me to do that yet though I understand, but if nothing else just let me hold you, let me be strong for you so you can break down."

Jon sighed deeply after he had finished speaking and watched Lily intently from his position kneeling on the floor of the hotel room, knowing that her reaction to what he had just said would be crucial. For a while, Lily's expression of deep fear did not change, but Jon kept his eyes locked on her, willing her to trust him, and eventually he watched as something in Lily's eyes broke and they became misty and shrouded with tears.

"Jon," Lily just about managed to choke out before succumbing to tears "he…he…"

"I know," said Jon gently, quickly retaking his seat on Lily's bed and catching her as she fell into his arms, finally giving into the tears which overwhelmed her body "let it all out, everything, you're safe now."

These simple words seemed to allow Lily to break the hold she still had on her emotions as she completely broke down in hysterical sobs; the pain, grief and fear of what had just happened finally hitting her, while also combined with the pain she had endured over the past few months at the hands of Cesaro. Knowing that he was going to be here for a while, Jon kicked off his shoes and adjusted both his and Lily's seating positions so that he was sat on the bed with his legs outstretched and she was seated in his lap, leaning against his chest while his arms provided a barrier of safety for her against the rest of the world. Jon didn't say much to Lily as she cried; he didn't need to, he knew she just needed to cry, to deal with the first step of grief. Lily's tears carried on for what felt like an intensely painful eternity to Jon; he wasn't very good with people who cried, especially women, but something about Lily was different; he wanted to care for her and make sure that whatever hurt her never did so again, which was a very knew experience for him. As a result of this, Jon ended up feeling pain and sadness of his own on behalf of Lily as she cried in his arms; no one should ever have to go through what she had been forced to endure; he was sure of that.

"You're going to be all right," said Jon softly "I know it doesn't feel like it now but you will be. All those pieces of your heart and soul that are coming undone and breaking will heal; I'll help you put them back together if you let me. I know I've said this before but he will not touch you again, I never should have left you alone with him, if I had been around this never would have happened."

Lily then surprised Jon by looking up at him from his embrace; her eyes still full of tears and her body still shaking with sobs. Despite his instincts screaming that it was the wrong thing to do, Jon gently used his thumb to wipe away some stray tears on Lily's cheek. At first, Lily tensed at his touch, but just as Jon was about to pull his hand away from her, Lily leant into his touch, appreciating the only positive human contact she had experienced in a while.

"Don't blame yourself Jon," said Lily in a shaky voice, hiccupping every so often as the remnants of sobs shook her "I said I needed to do this by myself, no one could have predicted what he was going to do."

"I know," said Jon sadly "but I still hate the thought you were at his mercy and if I was there I could have made it stop."

"You're here now though," said Lily simply, burying her head back in Jon's chest.

Jon sighed deeply and tightened his hold on Lily, desperately wanting to keep her safe from harm for as long as he was able to. He still felt guilty he had not been able to stop Cesaro's torture of Lily, but her words had made him feel slightly better, it was clear that although she was hurting from what had happened to her; it mattered to her that he was here now and wasn't going anywhere. Lily was very quiet in Jon's arms which initially worried him, but he knew she probably just needed some time where she could digest what had actually happened and get used to the fact that she was safe again, after all she had been on an emotional rollercoaster.

"What do I do now, Jon?" asked Lily all of a sudden, so much so that it made Jon jump slightly, as he had become accustomed to the comfortable silence.

"You let me look after you," answered Jon instantly, as Lily began to shake her head "you let me put you back together. I won't accept no for an answer; if Cesaro is willing to do what he did to you, you need someone around who isn't afraid to break him now, and also if he tries it again. I am that person and you are not leaving my side again."

"Jon I can't let you put yourself in danger like that," said Lily, sounding worried by the whole idea.

"I can look after myself and I can look after you," said Jon in a strong voice "plus I want to look after you, I never want you to be hurt again."

"I'll be fine," said Lily doubtfully, not surprised when Jon heard the hesitation in her voice "I've always looked after myself."

"Well now is the time to let someone else look after you," said Jon firmly "I'll be bulletproof so you don't have to be anymore."

"I'm sorry about this," said Lily, getting slightly emotional again "I'm sorry you're in this position, I bet when you started this storyline you never thought you'd be put through this."

"Lil come on," said Jon, running his hand over her hair and finding a lump on her head in the process "this is not your fault. I'm glad we started talking because if we hadn't you would still be with that disgusting waste of oxygen and I never would have gained a fantastic friend."

"I just feel so guilty for you, you could be out having fun, instead you're sat with me," said Lily sadly.

"I thought we'd established I wasn't very sociable, I can't imagine I'd be out having fun tonight," said Jon smiling slightly "please don't feel guilty."

"I'm even wearing your clothes," said Lily, looking down at Jon's hooded top which she was wearing, as if she had only just noticed it "I'll get changed now and you can have it back."

"No, keep it," said Jon, pulling Lily back into his arms as she went to rush off to get changed "you look better than I do in it anyway. Hopefully it'll make you feel safe if I'm ever not around."

"Thank you," said Lily gratefully.

"Do you have a first aid kit in here?" said Jon "those cuts probably do need cleaning up a bit."

"Yeah it's in the bathroom," said Lily.

"I'll go and get it," said Jon, gently disengaging Lily from his embrace and placing her on the bed before standing up.

"Jon?" said Lily in a hugely vulnerable voice as she grasped his hand "please don't go."

"I'm just going to get your first aid kit then I'll be straight back, all right?" said Jon, kneeling down and trying to reassure Lily "I'll just be over there, if anything happens I'll be back to you in less than a second, I promise."

Lily nodded cautiously, scared to be on her own in case Cesaro came back, but she trusted that Jon would come back, he was all she could depend on at the moment. Jon smiled warmly at Lily before getting up and crossing the room in a few large strides. He found the first aid kit in Lily's bathroom easily and was back at her side in seconds. However Jon still noticed that in his absence her entire body had tensed with fear and only when he sat on the bed next to her did Lily begin to relax.

"I know there are probably injuries I can't see but at least let me try and do something about the ones I can," said Jon kindly, handing Lily an ice pack to put on her head.

Slowly and methodically, Jon carefully cleaned the dried blood from Lily's face before applying some cream to help with bruising and swelling, watching Lily's reactions all the time, knowing that while she trusted him now, she could become scared at any time. Thankfully Lily sat quietly as Jon worked his way through the injuries on her face, both friends glad they at least had a basic understanding of first aid so that they could avoid any awkward questions from WWE officials.

"There, that's the best I can do," said Jon, after a short while.

"I'm sorry," said Lily sadly, her bottom lip trembling slightly "I'm sorry I've put you through all this and can't repay you."

"Don't think like that," said Jon "you don't have to repay me, I'm here because I want to be here."

"One day I'll be able to look after you the way you've looked after me," said Lily.

"I'm sure that day will come sooner rather than later," said Jon chuckling "Lunatic Fringe, remember?"

Lily surprised both herself and Jon by giggling slightly and allowing herself to smile. Seeing Lily's reaction, Jon grinned, happy to at least see the form of a smile on her face again, but knowing that it would take a lot of time and care to get her back to the carefree person she had been before the events of that day.

"I tell you what," said Jon "why don't we do something to try and take your mind off what's happened today?"

"Like what?" asked Lily, who sounded unsure but still curious.

"Well we could go out for something to eat," said Jon "or we could get takeaway and I'll let you pick a film to watch."

"Can we stay here?" asked Lily nervously "I don't really feel like going out anywhere yet."

"Of course," said Jon smiling "shall we get pizza?"

"Pizza sounds great," said Lily, only just realising how hungry she was "do you mind if I go and get changed?"

"No go for it," said Jon "I'll order for us."

"Thank you, mine is a four cheese pizza please," said Lily, getting up off the bed and feeling a bit unsteady at first, but soon regaining her balance as she went to change into her pyjamas.

A short while later, Lily emerged from the bathroom in her pyjamas, after having a lightning-quick shower to try and make herself feel better. Lily had intended to give Jon his jacket back at this point, but she could not bring herself to take it off; it was so warm and it smelt of his aftershave, that she couldn't help but feel safe when she was wearing it.

"Hey," said Jon, smiling as he regarded Lily in his jacket "feeling any better?"

"A little bit," said Lily, although her eyes told Jon a different story.

"It is going to take time for you to feel all right again," said Jon kindly "I'll be around every step of the way though, so please do not be ashamed if you ever feel like you need to cry or be angry or even if you just need a hug."

"Thank you," said Lily gratefully as she hugged Jon "for everything."

"They sent someone to fix the lock by the way, so you're all safe again," said Jon, changing the subject "now can I go and get some more comfortable clothes? Do you want to come?"

"Can I?" asked Lily, a slightly vulnerable tone to her voice "I don't think I want to be on my own just yet."

"Of course," said Jon, taking Lily's hand in his own and leading them out of the door "if you're not comfortable with anything or if you need anything I want you to be completely honest with me."

Lily and Jon walked in silence to Jon's room, which was just down the corridor from Lily's room; they did not see anyone during this journey but Jon could feel Lily's tense demeanour beside him as he held onto her hand, and he only felt her relax when they were inside his room and she sat down.

"I'll be right back," said Jon, grabbing some tracksuit bottoms and a vest before walking into the bathroom.

After a few minutes Jon returned from the bathroom to find Lily in the same position he had left her; it seemed to him that she hadn't moved at all and she also appeared to be gazing into space. As Jon approached her cautiously, careful not to startle her, he noticed her eyes were once again misty. Sighing to himself Jon sat down next to Lily and put his arms around her, pulling her into his chest.

"I know," he whispered as he felt tears leak from Lily's eyes onto his top.

"I don't know how I'm ever going to recover from this," whimpered Lily.

"You will," said Jon firmly "I promise. It will be hard, but you will get there step by step and one day you'll be happy again, I can't say when that will be but it will happen. The memories are going to be the hardest things to deal with but hopefully I can make you smile enough so you create some happy memories to focus on."

"I'm just scared," said Lily sadly.

"I know," said Jon sympathetically "you don't need to be though; he isn't going to hurt you ever again. For now though we'll get you back to your room, you can sit in bed and we'll eat pizza and hopefully that will help, even if it's just for a while."

With Jon's assistance Lily got up and willingly allowed him to lead her back to her room, feeling more secure when she watched Jon lock the door behind them. Lily noticed as well that her bed had been freshly made; gone with the rumpled, blood-stained sheets, replaced by a crisp white duvet and fresh pillows. This simple fact relaxed Lily more than anything else had, especially once Jon had insisted on tucking her into bed with her teddy bear.

"I asked them to bring fresh sheets as well," said Jon quietly "I thought it might help you feel better."

"Thank you, that means the world," said Lily, getting slightly emotional "you've been so kind to me."

"Only to you," said Jon smiling "I'm never this kind to anyone else, I'm quite antisocial really."

"Oh I know what you mean," said Lily.

Soon the pizza came, and Lily found out that Jon had secretly ordered chocolate ice cream for them both as well, and insisted on paying for it. Lily chose to watch Tangled as she secretly loved Disney movies; much to Jon's displeasure, but soon both Lily and Jon had let their guards' down so much that they were sat in Lily's bed, feasting on pizza and ice cream with Lily's teddy bear sat between them, while they both let the hours tick by watching films and talking.

"Thank you Jon," said Lily some hours later as she yawned "you made me smile on a day when I never thought I would smile again."

"No problem," said Jon, who yawned as well "now come on, time for sleep, you look like you haven't slept properly in months; let your guard down, you are completely safe to go to sleep."

"Can you stay?" asked Lily in such a small voice that Jon could barely hear her.

"I wasn't planning on going anywhere any time soon," said Jon, climbing out of the bed and walking to the sofa "I'll be over here."

"No I meant can you stay with me and hold me until I fall asleep," said Lily in a timid voice, wondering what Jon's reaction would be "when you're here and you hug me the broken pieces of me seem to hold together, but when you're not here they don't."

"Of course I'll stay," said Jon, climbing back into the bed and lying down next to Lily "and one day I'll hug you so tight you'll never have to worry about falling apart again."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" asked Lily, bringing the duvet up around her.

"Lily," said Jon, pulling her close to him in a hug "relax and go to sleep."

Within a matter of minutes Jon felt Lily relaxing in his arms as sleep overcame her; the physical and emotional exhaustion of the past day taking its toll on her. Jon meanwhile took a little bit longer to get to sleep as he was lost in his own thoughts; he was not used to being in these kind of situations with women, the situations where emotions were involved because in the past he had never been very good at that kind of thing. However, with Lily, Jon felt different, he wanted to protect her, care for her, look after her, make her laugh and wipe away her tears, and as he fell into a deep sleep he couldn't help but wonder why that was.

* * *

><p><strong>So what did you think? I found it quite tough to write this chapter so it would be interesting to know what you think of it. I have the idea for the next chapter up and running so hopefully I'll post that soon :)<strong>


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